Let me start off by saying I’m a total jersey nerd. I have to believe that one of the big reasons I got into hockey as a little two year old lad was the awesome, bright, crazy unis of the 1990’s. That love has followed me into adulthood, and I have built up a mighty fine collection of some beautiful jerseys over the years (and some pretty ugly ones too).

One of my biggest gripes with the current state of the game today is how many teams have absolutely shocking uniform designs and decisions. I would assume these franchises are paying for top-quality business consultation and design people, yet we continue to see insane decisions like the Flames and Capitals just made recently when Adidas took over, to ditch the beautiful retro looks they had, and go with plain, pipe-y, pyjama-looking trash, while 99.9% our jaws dropped at how such a decision could be made. Is there some ugly jersey conspiracy that we’re all totally oblivious to?

But alas, we don’t have any say in which jerseys our teams will don. But it won’t stop us from dreaming! So I decided to do a series on the best jerseys that each franchise has worn. You may agree with some, you may think I’m crazy. Either way, let me know by tweeting me at @BLTJay!

Well this one won’t be very interesting, but here we are. The Detroit Red Wings have made some minor modifications over the years, and they have almost all been for the better. Since 1984 when they inverted their logo, and 1987 when they lowered the stripe on their red jerseys a bit, the jersey hasn’t changed at all. There isn’t another team in the NHL that can boast such consistency.

So really, all it came down to was whether I liked the red jersey or the white jersey better. And unlike some other close ones where I wasn’t sure if I liked light or dark better (eg. Colorado and Dallas), this one really isn’t hard for me.

The white version has more differentiation with the white chest and red arms, which is a little more exciting than the 90% red one, and looks really crisp on the ice.

I love me some classic jerseys, and the whites are really great, and arguably the best in NHL history with that awesome logo too.

The Wings have had a couple shots at the winter classic now, and when you’re competing with perfection and trying to be different, it can be hard. I do really like the first version from 2009 with the big D and the striped socks, but I obviously couldn’t pick it as number 1 in franchise history. A series on the best jerseys in Winter Classic history though, and it could be up there (ironically they also have one of the worst outdoor jerseys of all time from the 2016 game against Colorado). I’ll probably have to do something of the sort before the January 1st Classic between Boston and Chicago.

So what do you think… Do you like the red or the white version of the Wings better? Or maybe you’re going off the board with one of the Winter Classic jerseys? Let me know in the comments, or tweet me at @BLTJay!